“head hunter,” or even
one that only puts up
certain colors. Sometimes an exhibitor or
handler who did not
win will think or say,
“I guess my dog is
too fancy,” (replace
with the word of your
choice: pretty, big,
small, angulated, etc).
In fact, none of this
may be true as the
judge can only put up
what is in front of her.
But these reputations
may determine what
dogs are shown to
her in the future. So it
becomes a vicious circle. Many new judges
are determined that
soundness is a requirement for their winners.
We all start out to be
breed saviors. Then
the true education of a
judge begins.
Probably because
I am old, I have had
many newer judges
talk to me about judging. I tell them that I
understand what they
are going through.
Been there - done
that - have the tee
shirt. When I started, I
knew that poor movement was an issue in
my breed, and I was
determined to find a
sound dog. However,
I also knew that my
breed is a combination
of elegance, balance,
and substance. After a
few assignments I realized that I had choices
and compromises to
make. Do I put up a
sound dog that does
not have the essence
of the breed, or do I
put up a pretty dog
that needs help to get
across the ring?
82 Dog News

A judge is faced with
this every time she steps
into the ring. I learned over time - that we are not
judging perfection - we
are judging reality. Everything is a trade-off. We
all have to decide what
is most important to us
for each breed we judge.
For me there are certain
essences of each breed
that cannot be ignored or
dismissed. Once we have
found this, then we can
start looking at which dog
has proper reach, depth
of chest, etc. But the essence of the breed is
paramount. It takes some
judges longer to learn
and accept this than others. Some never get past
this point.
Judges learn to judge
by
judging.
Unfortunately it is difficult for a
new judge with just a few
breeds to get enough
assignments to stay in
a rhythm, and they can
wither away. She gets frustrated. In order to “stay in
the game,” and keep her
“judging eye” the new
judge accepts as many
sweepstakes and match
show assignments that
she can. This does help,
but only if there is a good
mentor there to help her
by honestly discussing her
procedure and selections.
The “newbie” has to be
open for this feedback. If
she is not, all this practice
will do is lock in some very
bad habits.
I do believe that there
are a few lucky people
who “have the eye.” But
even these have to learn
how to run a ring smoothly, safely, and on time.
Judges need to learn the
rules; when and if to award
Select, AOM, when to

withhold, when and how
to DQ. All judges should
learn how to maintain a
proper demeanor and be
firm but friendly with the
exhibitors. Another thing
that takes some experience is learning to judge
the whole dog and not
pieces. This is a point that
cannot be over-emphasized. It is very much like
learning to judge the positive attributes rather than
fault-judge.
Every judge has to
learn what things can be
overlooked, and what
things cannot. There is a
time to draw the line, and
each judge must learn this
for themselves. Unfortunately, new judges don’t
get enough opportunities, and their education
is stunted. It takes time
and experience to remain
calm, stay on time, run a
smooth ring - and find
the best dogs. Over time
a judge will learn how to
prioritize breed characteristics, and how to determine which ones just can’t
be overlooked. If what is
important to a judge is
breed essence, the judge
may wind up being pretty good. If the judging
is done based on fads,
grooming, and handling well - that is sad.
Those who want to
be a good judge for the
right reasons continue
to study, talk to breeders, and attend seminars even for breeds for
which they are approved.
Those who want to succeed watch good judges
and how various breeds
are judged. When I used
to teach young wannabe
handlers, I would point
to Jane Forsyth, Bill Trainor, and Laddie Carswell.

“Watch them and copy everything they do, including
how they dress.” New judges
should do this with experienced judges that they may
respect. They should sit at
ringside with mentors and
try to determine how and
why they would have placed
the class in front of them. I
caution new judges about
this though. I have seen and
heard too many supposed
mentors who have an axe to
grind lead a new judge down
the wrong path - usually towards the dogs that they
show. These are not mentors.
These people are pimps.
Finally, if the new judge
has survived a few years, she
is approved to judge the
Group. Additional learning
takes place here. First of all,
judging a group helps her get
more assignments (although
these days it may take two or
more groups). Then, by having the opportunity to judge
some of the better representatives of many breeds,
she gains additional understanding that even the best
dogs have little faults. The
judge that can only see that
a potentially great dog toes
in a little will never really be
a good judge. The one that
can see and “feel” the quality represented in the group
is the judge I want to judge
my dogs.
Those few who I respect
try to learn as much as they
can because they care. As
an example, my wife, who
will not apply to judge Toy
breeds for quite a while,
asked a successful Peke
breeder at a recent show to
teach her the correct way to
examine the breed and WHY.
I watched also, because although I have judged the
breed in Best in Show, I am
always ready to learn and improve.
Those who want to just
add more breeds continue
to bitch about the system. I
agree that the system is very
definitely broken and unfair, and I have complained
more than once. But that is
no reason to stop learning.
Just because you can send
fifty pages when applying
for additional breeds doesn’t
mean you are ready to move
on.
What do you think?